Our Community Culture Presents:
An Afternoon with Vladimir Basanov
Saturday, February 23rd at 4 p.m.
Vladimir Basanov was born in Sofia, Bulgaria. He began his formal musical training when he was eight years old and studied piano, contrabass, guitar, kaval (Bulgarian flute), Baroque flute, composition and theory. At the age of sixteen, the Bulgarian government gave him a scholarship and sent him to Moscow, Russia, to the Academic School of Music and Choreography affiliated to the Bolshoi Theatre. He learned Ballet, Choreography and Music and received the First Prize for piano for two consecutive years.
After eleven years as the Principal Dancer at the National Opera and Ballet Theatre of Sofia, Vladimir joined different international ballet companies, notably danced for two years at the Alberta Ballet in Calgary beginning in September 2001.
Since concluding his ballet career, Vladimir has been teaching piano, guitar and theory for all levels. He plays a wide range of classical music from Baroque to Jazz to modern but also popular music and improvisations. He loves Chopin, Liszt, Schumann, Schubert, Mozart, and Beethoven and especially Johan Sebastian Bach.
Vladimir began to compose music two years ago. His compositions are a blend of modern, classical, jazz and Bulgarian. He created over seventy pieces, including pieces for children, dozens of fugues and etudes, two sonatas and two concertos. Vladimir called his last concerto "Elbow Falls", to thank and celebrate the beauty of Canada, his new country.
Vladimir has had the opportunity to play his own music and transcriptions on the piano and kaval at several venues. He is very pleased to play a few of his compositions: his Sonata n. 1, 2nd Movement, his Fugue n. 17 and his Bulgarian Dance n. 1 at the Southwood Library. Vladimir's son, Ethan, will play Vladimir's composition Habanera. Leah, his daughter, will play Vladimir's composition Bourrée.
